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DOT says FAA not watching AA closely enough

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DXing 29 Oct 21, 02:10Post
I have to call {redflag} on several parts of this story.

The report documents several maintenance incidents at American, including an aircraft that flew for 877 days with a broken emergency slide. According to Reuters, American said it reported the slide issue as soon as it was discovered in line with its maintenance program procedures, but the FAA said that because the problem was not given a high enough risk assessment, it did not get the attention it should have, allowing the plane to fly with insufficient safety equipment.


A broken slide either stops an aircraft in its tracks with a mx ferry to the nearest repair station, or requires a large amount of blocked off seats to continue, and then only as far as the next repair station. It certainly is not going to be allowed to fly for over 2 years in that condition. A responsible Captain would refuse the aircraft. The same would be true for the dispatch group. I cannot believe that anybody at American would let this go on.

Another case revealed American failed to risk assess an engine that had incorrectly installed struts, which secure the engine in place. Without the risk assessment prompting a fix of the problem, which is how safety systems at airlines are intended to work, the plane flew 1,002 flights when it shouldn't have been flying at all, according to the DOT.


What struts? And the engine in question didn't have any engine maintenance in 1,002 flights which would be at least 1000 hours of flying time? I don't believe that for a second. Same as above, I cannot believe for a second that the folks at American would allow that to continue.

I think it's just a very poorly written story. Perhaps someone thinks the SMS code assigned these incidents should have been higher? If so, that's nice but the MEL's involved would be a much more immediate concern to all involved as there are strict time limits and legalities involved. Something is fishy with this story.


https://www.businessinsider.com/faa-oversight-of-american-airlines-safety-programs-is-insufficient-2021-10
What's the point of an open door policy if inside the open door sits a closed mind?
ShanwickOceanic (netAirspace FAA) 29 Oct 21, 09:02Post
DXing wrote:A broken slide either stops an aircraft in its tracks with a mx ferry to the nearest repair station, or requires a large amount of blocked off seats to continue, and then only as far as the next repair station. It certainly is not going to be allowed to fly for over 2 years in that condition. A responsible Captain would refuse the aircraft. The same would be true for the dispatch group. I cannot believe that anybody at American would let this go on.

All this assumes that the paperwork reflects the reality, and that the "broken slide" (whatever that means in this case) hadn't been cleared off as complete without the work actually being done. "Broken" might mean that it was disconnected for checks and never reconnected before the cover went back on and someone cleared the job. If they can be this specific about when it "broke", my hunch is that they "broke" it during a previous maintenance visit and had an oh-shit moment the next time they were scheduled to look at it. {twocents}
My friend and I applied for airline jobs in Australia, but they didn't Qantas.
miamiair (netAirspace FAA) 29 Oct 21, 12:37Post
Sounds like someone OD'd on the SMS Kool-Ade.

There are several struts om the engine and pylon.
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And let's get one thing straight. There's a big difference between a pilot and an aviator. One is a technician; the other is an artist in love with flight. — E. B. Jeppesen
GQfluffy (Database Editor & Founding Member) 29 Oct 21, 14:56Post
Are they sure they didn't get AA mixed up with G4?
Teller of no, fixer of everything, friend of the unimportant and all around good guy; the CAD Monkey
DXing 29 Oct 21, 22:48Post
ShanwickOceanic wrote:If they can be this specific about when it "broke", my hunch is that they "broke" it during a previous maintenance visit and had an oh-shit moment the next time they were scheduled to look at it. {twocents}


My understanding from talking with MX personnel when I had to deal with one on an airplane over in Europe is that the slide is tagged and the tag is not removed until signed off by I believe two people. On top of that normal slide inspections are every 8-10 weeks. This supposedly wasn't working for over 2 years, I find that especially suspect.
What's the point of an open door policy if inside the open door sits a closed mind?
 

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